REBUILT SMOKE UNIT AND A HOW TO ON CHANGING FROM 2 CHUFFS TO 4 CHUFFS PER REV WITH PHOTO'S AND VIDEO

It's a smokin' machine now, looks great!   I've done the same thing to several of them, it really does have a very positive effect on the smoke volume.

Thanks John, I now have the guts to open up engines and do the work.

Thanks to you and bill. I wish I had a before video it's an amazing difference

and it only takes about 30 minutes to do.

Thanks, Alex

Good job Alex, I have done a bunch of these for the guys around Springfield. I too followed Mike Reagan's video and boy we all have great smokers here in the Ozarks.

Wow she smokes a lot now!

Very nice work.  She's a great puffer now.

Alex, you did a great job.  Who would not be happy with that smoke?  I love to see good work like this passed on to others.

thank you

Thanks Roger, Jim, Charles, and Marty for the very nice comments.

Marty I'm sort of a newbie at this and I learned how to do this with the help of all

of you forum members and a friend of mine Mike. R. That's what makes this forum and the members so great. I can't believe what I can do now to these engine's from watching and listening to you pro's on this forum.

THANKS TO ALL, ALEX

Hey Alex...I just saw this and WOW what a BIG difference!  I have a few Lionels I would like to try.  Can you share what sized bit you used when you drilled out the hole and then did you replace the material around the resister or just pack the chamber with new batting?  What did you use for the replacement batting?

Thanks,

Alan

Thanks Alan, I'm pretty sure the air intake openings are different in each engine because the two that I did had different openings. So what I did was just go slightly larger and be careful not to hit the race ways in the circuit board,  you can see the race ways they are slightly raised so just go big enough not to hit them. I just used a drill bit that was one size larger then the opening. As for the covering on the resistor just cut it off and clean the resistor and don't put anything thing back. Just replace the old batting with new. I buy all of my parts from BOXCAR BILL. And if you want evening better performance also put in a new resistor.

P.S. THAT WAS A SHORT VIDEO, THE LONGER I RAN THE ENGINE THE BETTER THE SMOKE GOT. IT SMOKED OUT THE WHOLE TRAIN ROOM.

Thanks to all, Alex

Alan, Mike Reagan explains how to to this in his video, you can find it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkDlQ5Cwwlk

Roger is there also a video from Mike Reagan on how to install a reed switch or cruise

I'm just curious, because a friend of mine told me there was but I can't find it.

Thanks, Alex

Alex, not that I know of....but you can go to the Lionel LLC you tube to find out.

Roger thanks very much, I'll check it out.

Thanks, Alex

Nice work Alex! Great pictoral showing what you did, so when does "Alex's smoke unit rebuild and chuff upgrade shop" open? Theres alot of great 2 chuffer Lionels out there that could benefit immensely by adding 2 more chuffs I'm suprised theres no one offering this service.

Thanks RickO for your kind words, like you said there's some really nice older 2 chuff

Lionel engines out there, what I really like about them is most of them have Pittman

motor's in them, I don't think any train company is using Pittman motor's anymore

correct me if I'm wrong. Some times I like to pick one of these engines up and do the

smoke upgrade and the 4 chuff upgrade to them and you have yourself a great engine

I'm also going to repaint this engine soon.

Thanks again, Alex

P.S. MAYBE I'LL START A BUSINESS DOING THIS.  LOL LOL

Thanks Roger....

And thanks Alex! 

Boxcar Bill....how do I contact him...is he a forum member???  Guess I can do a search..just thought about that!

Alan

Boxcar Bill is indeed a forum member, he runs Modern Toy Train Parts.

Alex,

Wow great job on the engine. I'm glad the smoke upgrade worked out for you. It really is smoking very good.

The four chuff upgrade is terrific. You have to do it to one of my engines I left at your house.

You certainly are one of the "Master's of the Hobby."

Mike R

Hey, Alex -

Great job! Both on the smoke unit and the Chuffs Per Revolution (CPR?) conversion.

I liked your step-by-step details, and what an improvement over the original 2CPR!

Thanks for sharing!

Alex

Thanks Mike R. and Alex for your kind comments it's appreciated, because it takes hours to set this how to up.

Also thanks to all in this thread

Thanks, Alex

Thanks GRJ!!!  I am going to contact Boxcar Bill and then ship everything to Alex to get the job done right...

Alan

Nice job. I am planning the same on a few myself. I think I will use the Drive wheels instead of the trailing truck just to ensure four chuffs with the drivers in the same position each time. Don't get me wrong, your upgrade is a great improvement. It's just one of those things that bugs me personally. You seem to be getting 3+, but not quite 4 there. But again, that's just my bugaboo. Great job. Where did you get the reed switch and magnets?

One change in the procedure is I'd recommend heat-shrink tubing instead of tape.  It never comes loose and is typically a bit more compact.

Thanks to all,

Alan no problem I'll do it for you.

John your right about the heat shrink I'm changing mine to heat shrink.

Johnny speed, I have experimented with that process you have to be careful with that type of install. First the reed switch is going to be very low and might hit something

on the track. Second if you mount the magnets on the back of the drive wheels the magnets might hit the chassis on a curve and rip the magnets off

Third if you try and mount 4 magnets in the spokes of the drivers you still might not get 4 chuffs because its very hard to get the magnets at 12, 3, 6, 9 o'clock due the spokes. But you are totally correct it's 3 plus chuffs per rev. As for where I purchase my parts, I get them from BOXCAR BILL here on the forum(Modern toy train parts)

Thanks, Alex

You done good Alex!

Thanks so much for posting this,   for as you said:

"I'm sort of a newbie at this and I learned how to do this with the help of all of you forum members and a friend of mine Mike. R. That's what makes this forum and the members so great."

Now you most certainly have become one of the aforementioned group!!

...and your 'community status' is rising.

Boxcar Bill is another...

Sam thank you very much for your kind words. I love to help people anyway I can I enjoy doing that.

Thanks again, Alex

GREAT JOB Alex!!!

I just scored a K-Line K3270-5343S J1e scale Hudson and can't wait to do some of the mods you did to your engine - cruise, smoke, chuff, etc.  Perhaps when I get up the nerve AND the time, you can assist with part numbers and suppliers that I'm gonna need besides what's in this thread.  Again, super job!!!

Best,

Dave

PS, hope to see you tomorrow... oops, later this morning in Canfield

Thank you for posting

I have a question for you folks. I have a Lionel PostWar Celebration N and W J Class. It's smoke output is meager unless I load up the consist. I took the shell off, drilled the intake hole larger, repacked it with wadding, put 3M reflective tape under the top plate of the smoke unit. It's a bit better, but I have to have alot of weight in the consist to run it with enough voltage to make it smoke decently. The unit is supposed to be a 6 ohm unit. Do I have any other options to get it to smoke better? I think not as it's probably voltage regulated and requires the 18V of TMCC to make it really puff.

Roger

Sorry guys I didn't see that you guys posted on my thread,

Dave no problem I will help in any way I can and I learned from some of the best on the forum. Believe it or not it's all not to hard to do. Just let me know.

Charlie, thank you

Roger can you give me the item number of this engine, and did you cut off the wrapping around the resistor, and I'm not totally sure but you might be able to put an 8 OHM resistor in. We will need some input from the pro's on this forum.

Thanks, Alex

Hi Alex,

I did cut the sleeve off. And the item number is 6-11106. Thanks

-Roger

Actually, if you want to dissipate more power, you'd have to lower the resistance of the smoke unit resistor.  However, 6 ohms seems like you'd dissipate enough power to generate decent smoke.  Exactly how did you pack the wick?  After cutting the smoke resistor sleeve off, I fill the chamber under the resistor with the top of the wick firmly contacting the bottom of the resistor.  Do not cover the whole resistor, allow the top to be open, that seems to work better for me.

Thanks John I was hoping you would answer.

Alex

How much track voltage is this at? (Looking to improve smoke output but need to do it at 16V because of older cars and bulb heat issues.)

The four chuffs is fantastic, correcting one of Lionel's biggest design flaws according to my MTH oriented friends.

Lima it's at 18 volts

Alex

You could replace the bulbs with LED drop-in replacements.

GR John,

I repacked it up to the bottom of the resistor so it nestles in it. I leave room for a channel from the fan. It's definitely a voltage issue. Once it's running at above 14V it isn't bad (but not MTH level).  From your description, I pack it the way you do. And then I push a toothpick in there to make sure I've still got a channel.

Roger

Sounds right Roger.  I don't run conventional, so I don't know what it might take to get that working better.  I'm surprised it has a 6 ohm resistor, that should be smoking up a storm if it's good!  The 27 ohm in the fan driven units for TMCC get around 10 volts RMS on them when you're not using the boost, and they smoke fine.

That's what I thought. But.....the part on Lionel's website says.....6 ohm smoke unit (Super Smoke). I've never seen a 6 ohm element. It looks remarkably like my 27s. I can't get it above 15V, though, as the big Pullmor in it would take it airborne. I'm sure at higher voltages it smokes up a storm. 

-Roger

What about this?  Do you think if I changed it from 2 to 4 chuffs that THAT mod would make it smoke more?   And is it possible to do on this engine?

Roger

This locomotive has synchronized chuffing, but I'd think that you'd need smoke volume before more pulses would do much good.  Have you ever run this TMCC?  How is the smoke output on a TMCC layout?  This appears to be a newer model, it may have the smoke unit regulator, I'll have to see if I can find out.

Looking at the parts list, it looks like it doesn't have a separate smoke unit regulator.  It does indeed say 6 ohms, don't know what to think about that.  I think I must be missing the regulator board, I can't imagine they're driving a 6 ohm resistor directly from the R2LC.

Nice job Alex.  Thanks for sharing.  That is something I need to try on some of my engines.

mtnhi7 -

Could you please give a little more detail on how you went about building the lobes with JB Weld and how you did it?

I have 3 engines I want to convert.

Thank you.

John,

I've never run it TMCC, so I don't know how it would look. All I know is, my PW steamers and of course  all my MTH stuff blow away this smoke unit.

Roger

I'd probably consider asking Lionel if they have any tips to improve the smoke.  They have some videos on smoke unit upgrades as well.  I don't have any engines with that particular smoke unit to look at.

John,

I've had very little luck trying to talk to a Lionel tech lately. Their customer service people answer the phone and rarely let you speak with a tech. The few times I've actually spoken to one, I got alot of arrogance and rushed conversations. They've changed the way they handle their phone calls......maybe good for them, but not for the consumer.

Send an email to Mike at Lionel, his forum name here is Mikado.  He's the head cheese at Lionel technical support and has been very responsive to questions by folks here in the forum. 

John,

I assume you're referring to Mike Regan (sp?). I've watched alot of his videos. What is his contact info?

Roger

Go to his profile at Mikado and click on the link on the right Extended Profile.  His email is there.

Hi guys- I did the cam lobe conversion 5-6 years ago. Since the early scale Berkshire and the scale GS-2 didn't have a tach tape and reader on the flywheels, I suspected they'd have a micro switch and a cam to trigger the smoke unit fan and chuff. I did the Berkshire first, removed the boiler shell and determined that the cam was under one of the large pc boards on the second driver axle. I took a photo of the wiring/plugs before unscrewing and lifting off the pcb. Once the pc board was off, the cam was exposed . I used Q-tips and pipe cleaners with ScaleCoat thinner, and also denatured alcohol, to remove all oil and grease from the cam. I roughed up the 2 hollows in the cam that are between the cast-in lobes, then mixed some Quick JB Weld and installed the goop into one cam hollow at a time with a toothpick, carefully shaping the JB Weld into a lobe. After the JBW hardened, I trimmed the new lobes with a very sharp hobby knife so each looked like a bell curve (best description I can make) and rotated the mechanism by turning the flywheel so the cam rotated and contacted the micro switch, making the switch's contacts close. You have to be very precise to get the JBW lobes exactly opposite each other and the same distance from the cast cam lobes so the chuff is even at 6, 9, 12, and 3 o'clock on the side rods. The peaks of the JBW lobes need to be centered in the hollows of the cast cam, with nicely sloped sides so the micro switch's contacts slide over each lobe peak smoothly. Once the job was done, I replaced the pc boards and wiring, then I ran the engines with the boiler shells off to verify that I'd made the new lobes correctly. There were no adverse effects on the smoke unit and fan pulses; fan pulsed at 4 chuffs per revolution of the drivers and as engine speed increased the fan went into the usual full blowing mode. Once everything worked, I used a bit of grease on the cam lobes. I do recommend getting rid of the woven fiberglass batting that was commonly used a few years ago. I now use part no. 691SMKP008, which is a finely stranded fiberglass rope about 1/4" diameter. This is wound into the smoke unit chamber and the heating resistor is supposed to nestle into the little hollow that results from the winding. Be sure to keep the fan air exit into the smoke chamber unobstructed.

If I'm ever to post a video I'm going to need some instruction. Thanks.

Some great info mtnhi7, I like the whole idea but it sounds like a lot of work and it all must be precise. As for the batting in the smoke unit I use the one that BOXCARBILL

sells, it's a square fiber pad and it holds a lot of smoke fluid. I rest the resistor deep into it without covering the top of the resistor and, as everyone can see theses engines smoke great.

P.S. mtnhi7 you can post a short video, you can do it the same way you post a picture

just make sure the video is less then 100mb. I hope I explained it right if not let me know 

Once again thanks for some great info, Alex

I KNOW THIS WAS POSTED IN ANOTHER THREAD BUT JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

HERE'S THE OLD BERK ALL DONE IN A NEW ROAD NAME WITH ALL NEW PAINT DECALS

4 CHUFFS AND UPGRADED SMOKE. I KNOW THE NUMBERS ARE NOT CORRECT FOR NEW YORK CENTRAL BUT THAT'S MY FAVORITE ROAD NAME.

HERE'S THE LINK ENJOY AND THANKS TO ALL, ALEX

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/d...ent/8187868188835046

I tried posting a video but it didn't work. Followed Rich's directions.

Hi mtnhi7 let me know how your posting the video and I can help you get it on this thread. I have a very easy way to post videos.

Thanks, Alex